The Research On The Formulation Of The Maritime Insurance Clauses For Unmanned Surface Vessels

With the development of science and technology,the whole shipbuilding industry and international shipping industry are undergoing the transformation of ship unmanned and intelligent.In recent years,great progress has been made in unmanned autonomous ship technology or unmanned semi-autonomous ship technology.Maritime Unmanned Surface Vessels(MUSVs)are deeply supported by countries all over the world and the international shipping industry because of their advantages in improving shipping safety,promoting environmental protection and reducing transport costs.It can be seen that the commercial operation of MUSVs has become the trend of the times and will become possible in the near future.Compared with the steady progress of technology,MUSVs are in a blank state in the application of law and risk regulation.As an effective mechanism to disperse risks and make up for losses,marine insurance plays an important and positive role in encouraging the development and promotion of MUSVs.However,at present,none of the countries have formulated hull insurance clauses specifically applicable to MUSVs.According to that,this paper intends to study and discuss how to make the hull insurance clauses for MUSVs.As the MUSVs are the same as the traditional manned ships in nature,this paper will sort out the inadaptability between the features of the MUSVs and the existing hull insurance clauses.And put forward some suggestions on the formulation of hull insurance clauses for MUSVs accordingly.This paper is divided into five chapters.Chapter I mainly summarizes the concept of MUSVs and the necessity of setting the existing marine hull insurance clauses for MUSVs.The MUSVs is a type of new ship,which is very different from the traditional manned ships.According to this,this chapter will introduce the definition and types of the MUSVs.Through the introduction,the author hopes to achieve a comprehensive understanding of this kind of ship.In addition,the legal status of MUSVs are vague in the existing maritime legal system and maritime conventions.Through the analysis of the definition of ship in international maritime conventions and the domestic laws of various countries,this chapter concludes that MUSVs can be recognized as "ships" under the existing legal framework.Finally,this chapter will discuss the necessity of setting the hull insurance clauses for MUSVs.The are three main reasons.Firstly,there is a lack of risk regulation on MUSVs.Secondly,the marine insurance clauses have the attribute of quasi-legislation.Finally,the features of the MUSVs are inconsistent with the existing hull insurance clauses.Therefore,it is urgent to formulate hull insurance clauses for MUSVs.Chapter II mainly discusses the seaworthiness clause of MUSVs on the basis of the existing seaworthiness clause of the hull insurance.This chapter is divided into three sections.The first section interprets the existing seaworthiness clause from two aspects: the connotation of the seaworthiness clause and the legal consequences of violating this clause.Although the seaworthiness clause has different forms in the provisions of different countries,it requires the insured to strictly perform obligations to make the ships insured seaworthy.If not,the insurer will not bear the loss caused by the violation of the clause."proper manning" is an important standard of the seaworthiness requirement of manned ships.The second section analyzes the particularity of the seaworthiness clause of the MUSVs.It can be concluded that the seaworthiness clause of MUSVs can cancel the requirement that there must be crew on board.Because there is a lack of clear provision on the number of ship manning in the existing regulations.And the shore-based personnel,automation systems and induction equipment can replace the functions of ensuring the safe navigation which is taken by the captain and the seamen.Chapter III mainly discusses the underwriting risk clause of MUSVs on the basis of the existing risk clause of hull insurance.In addition to the existing risks,the perils faced by MUSVs are mainly network risks such as network delay,computer viruses and hacker attacks.Through comparing the above three types of network risks with the existing maritime risks,the Inchmaree Clause and piracy risks,it can be concluded that network delay can be included in the category of maritime perils through interpretation.Hacker attacks hijacking ships can be included in the piracy clause by expanding the explanation of piracy.However,computer viruses can not be included in the existing underwriting risk clause,which needs to be underwritten by adding new clause.Chapter ? mainly discusses the collision liability clause of MUSVs on the basis of the existing collision liability clause of hull insurance.The collision liability has the attributes of negligent tort liability and alternative liability.Due to the inherent defects of the autonomous navigation system of MUSVs,product liability is introduced into the collision liability,which shakes and weakens the principle of negligent tort liability and alternative liability.Through the explanation,the shipowner still has to bear the compensation liability in the circumstances above.However,in the process of determining the collision liability,there is a difficult problem of responsibility distribution due to the inconsistent basis of liability,which cannot meet the requirements of legal liability.And it makes it difficult for the collision liability clause to be further applied.In addition,MUSVs will also have an impact on the determination of the specific amount of liability.Therefore,the collision liability of MUSVs needs to be modified on the basis of the original collision liability clause according to the new situation.On the basis of the conclusions of the previous chapters,chapter V puts forward some suggestions on the formulation of the Maritime Insurance Clauses for MUSVs.On the one hand,there is no Marine Insurance Law in our country.The Maritime Law of the People's Republic of China is the legal basis for adjusting the relationship of marine insurance.Therefore,the Maritime Law should be revised in time to adjust the emergence of MUSVs,including bringing the new concepts of MUSVs and the shorebased operators into the Maritime Law.On the other hand,according to the analysis and conclusions of Chapter II,III and ?,and on the basis of the current standard texts of hull insurance clauses PICC,this paper puts forward some suggestions on the formulation of seaworthiness clause,underwriting risk clause and collision liability clause.